Re: costs of testing

[Rick Parkany <rparkany@BORG.COM>]

You bring up good points regarding ToT (Time on Task), Folks...

...these are quite *standard* conditions, throughout this great land of ours, Ken
(the land's great, ain't it? it's just the system of management that stinks,
methinks...). In fact, I *ranted* for a few days/threads last year this list w/MY
claim that all of these daZe spent in testing--my daughter, two years ago spent
17+ daZe in the 4th grade here in Utica, NY, STP (Standard Temperature &
Pressure) testing--need to be accounted for as SUPERVISION, not INSTRUCTIONAL
time in the local and state SED budget lines...

I made/make the claim that since NONE of the results of these testings were ever
returned (the item responses and the tests, together) to the teachers for their
use/edification (learning theory indicates that if not available w/i two weeks,
they are USELESS for INSTRUCTION) that:

    ALL OF THIS SBE TESTING TIME-OFF-TASK NEEDS TO BE CREDITED AS
SUPERVISION/ADMINSTRATIVE TASKING ON THE LOCAL & STATE BUDGET LEDGERS.

Presently, as you are aware if you spend time leading classrooms of children as
many of us this list do, all this 10% of INSTRUCTIONAL time spent on one SBE test
or another is lined out in the budgets as INSTRUCTIONAL TIME/EXPENSE.

We need to make this claim in every one of the states and their thousands of
budget meetings coming up this season! IF we were to honestly, ethically, and
morally to ACCOUNT for our instructional time adequately (EdRON scandal in
bookmaking/keeping) consistently w/what is actually happening in this country's
classrooms in these USofA, Amerikkka would bring this scandal out into the open
where it belongs in these daZe of post_Enron accountability frauds.


HowZat fer a rant, Muttonhead?...Victor?: that's spelled *M-U-T-T...*    ;-} rap.

kber wrote:

> also not completely on point, perhaps?
>
> we will take our American History SOL examination on May 29.  The last day
> for students is  June 18, th althought ht elast two days are early release
> days (but we will ignore that for this purpose).  We had 182 days scheduled,
> with two snow days, of which we used one on September 12, when the entire
> Washington DC area was shut down.  Thus we are dealing with 181 school days,
> of which 14 will occur AFTER the date of the mandatory test.  That gives 166
> days before the test.  We will have taken a total of 5 field trips before
> then (the whole team goes at once in Middle School), which brings us down to
> 161 days.  Now, of those 161 days, 3 will have been 1/2 days, and does anyone
> think that you do meaningful instruction the very first day of school?
> That's 157 days, and we have not even begun toa ddress the issue of test
> preparation 9although I baically refuse to set aside large periods of time
> for that purpose).

--
"Dein Wachstum sei feste und lache vor Lust!
Deines Herzens Trefflichkeit
Hat dir selbst das Feld bereit',
Auf dem du bluehen musst." JS Bach: Bauern Kantata
Richard A. Parkany: SUNY@Albany
Prometheus Educational Services
http://www.borg.com/~rparkany/
Upper Hudson & Mohawk Valleys; New York State, USA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L
to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.